Philadelphia Eagles: Darius Slay contract restructure comes with risk

According to NFL insider Ian Rapoport, the Philadelphia Eagles have agreed to a contract restructure with last year’s big trade acquisition, CB Darius Slay. This move was somewhat expected by most, as pushing money down the road in way of restructure is a pretty routine way for teams to get out of impending cap struggles.

The move frees up just under $10 million for Howie Roseman and the Eagles to play with, pushing them to right around $34 million over the league’s salary cap at the moment. Plenty more moves are ultimately coming, with one or two additional restructures likely en route as well.

With all of that said, one thing needs to be made very clear when it comes to restructuring deals for aging, expensive players – they’re risky.

More from Section 215

• 4 Eagles on the Bubble Who Have Clinched Their 53-Man Roster Spots
• Best Pennsylvania Sportsbook Promos: Win $650 GUARANTEED Bonus PLUS $100 off NFL Sunday Ticket
• 3 Punters the Eagles Must Target to Replace Arryn Siposs
• Cowboys Trey Lance Trade Proves How Screwed They Are With Dak Prescott
• Devon Allen Took Britain Covey’s Job on Eagles

If you go check the replies to Rapoport’s tweet, you’ll see a good number of people “thanking” Darius Slay for his act of selflessness. While Slay *technically* has no obligation to agree to any sort of restructure, a situation like this is almost always beneficial for the player in the long run. Slay isn’t just taking a pay cut for fun, he’s tacking more money and (possibly) more years onto his deal, ultimately providing himself with even greater financial stability into his mid 30s.

Slay signed a three-year/$50 million extension upon arriving to Philadelphia last season, one can only assume that a majority of that money is now being pushed off into 2022 and 2023, when Slay will be 31 and 32 years old.

Eliott Shorr-Parks from SportsRadio 94WIP laid out a good tweet in regards to what the new cap numbers could potentially be moving forward with Slay:

While we get more clarity on what Slay’s specific new numbers are, the simple concept of paying a 30+ year old Slay close to $25 million in 2022 and 2023 isn’t something that should excite Eagles fans. Sure, this restructure clears up some immediate cap space and the organization is able to paint their starting corner as someone who’s “committed to the team.” However, ultimately speaking, a move like this is simply ignoring the problem – pushing it off down the road into years where the team will need a good amount of cap space to add impact free agents.

Shorr-Parks’ tweet is also only highlighting what a restructure would look like without added years. There’s a very real possibility that Roseman tacked on 1-2 years to Slay’s current deal, making things even trickier down the road for the team’s finances.

The Philadelphia Eagles love them some contract restructures!

Restructuring Slay’s deal shouldn’t come as a surprise, but it also shouldn’t be celebrated as some sort of major victory. Slay arguably had the worst year of his career in 2020, and the Eagles are now financially tied to him even further moving past 2021.

If Slay continues to regress, finding a trade partner for him will be near impossible. Releasing him in a year or two would be the only option, which would result in a ton of dead cap – an issue that has already ruined this year’s offseason for the Philadelphia Eagles.

There’s still reason to believe that Slay can bounce back next season under a new defensive coordinator, but definitely pump the breaks when it comes to praising these types of “kick the can down the road” contract restructures. Highly paid players aren’t just signing up for pay cuts out of the goodness of their own heart.